You can’t get promoted if you can’t be replaced. This is a significant challenge today, as many organizations have downsized to the point where employees are working to full capacity, with little time left for their own development. So the pool of potential replacements is shallow indeed, requiring that we promote people because of their potential rather than their abilities. Here are some ideas to ensure that you are ready to move up the ladder when the call comes.

? See yourself as a coach. Make it your business to identify one or two key people for development and create a plan to enable them to step into your shoes at any time.

? Review the skills that made you successful—organizational, technical, and ‘‘soft’’ skills. Evaluate potential replacements and identify gaps in their knowledge. Let them know about your intention to develop them as your backup—it will be highly motivating for them.

? Identify your replacement’s learning style. Some people are more self directed while others prefer more structure, help, and guidance as they
learn. Those that are more self-directed are able to take responsibility for their careers and learning and are probably going to be better replacements. Prioritize topics with the prote´ge´ and develop a list of learning opportunities (conferences, workshops, reading, and assignments, to name a few) that will be implemented over a reasonable period of time.

? Encourage retention of new skills by setting goals before each learning opportunity. Equally important, follow up to find out how effective the
training was, what was learned, and what new skills or behavior you are likely to notice. Reinforce the learning as often as you can; for learning to be internalized, it probably needs to be reinforced five to six times.

? Challenge your prote´ge´ with work assignments. On-the-job learning can be powerful. Ensure that each assignment has four phases:

• Planning. Identify the goals of the assignment. Next specify what
steps (actions) are expected and what the final outcome will be
(deliverables). Involve the prote´ge´ in the plan to ensure that she
buys into the goals you are setting.

• Action. Allow the prote´ge´ to carry out the project. Monitor her progress,
offering encouragement along the way. Note how she deals with
adversity. Does she look to you for help when she encounters a
roadblock or does she find a way to overcome the obstacle? Identify
key points along the way to evaluate progress so that she can get
feedback.

• Evaluation. Make notes on your observations so that you can be
specific in your feedback. Also, if possible, measure progress so that
your feedback will be accurate rather than general. Having pointed
out any shortcomings that you might have observed, get your prote´-
ge´’s agreement to the facts presented. Then ask her to suggest new
strategies to deal with the situation. You should suggest solutions
only if she has no idea how to deal with the situation in the future
(which is highly unlikely).

• Revision. Create a new plan for learning something new or set up
a similar project to perfect your prote´ge´’s learning.

Our lives are not a dress rehearsal for something else. This is the real thing, the only chance we get to make the most of our lives. We can never know when the final moment of our lives may occur. So, we need to take every opportunity to make each day count as if it were our last.

1. Ignore the numbers that never help you or cause you stress. These include age, height, or earnings.
2. Surround yourself with people who are happy, smile often, and always see the glass as half full. Let go of the complainers.
3. Keep learning. Learn in formal situations and learn from your mistakes. Seek out people who have complementary skills and ideas. Learn
   from them. Learn more about computers, crafts, gardening, whatever may interest you. Never let the brain idle.
4. Enjoy the simple things. Learn to smell the roses.
5. Laugh often, and with gusto. Never feel embarrassed to laugh out loud—it’s often infectious. Laugh until you feel as if your body’s going to explode. It won’t.
6. Deal with grief as a necessary but passing phase that cannot be avoided. But don’t get stuck in it. Life is too short. Honor those who have passed and care for those who are unwell. But move on—don’t get stuck with things you have no control over. Treat your tears as a way to help you wash the sadness away. Enjoy the sense of relief and move on.
7. Fill your life with love. Surround yourself with people you love and who love you in return. Listen to music that you love, over and over, till it stops giving you enjoyment. Keep near you pictures of the people and things that you love so that you can see them often.
8. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond anything you can do to improve, get help.
9. Avoid feeling guilty. Treat yourself to things that give you pleasure. Have the occasional piece of chocolate or your favorite full-fat ice
   cream. And (within reason) buy that luxury item you’ve always wanted. Savor these times of indulgence, but don’t rely on them too often to make you happy.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them—often.